The "Whites" (Polish: ''Biali'') were a faction among

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

insurrectionists before and during the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

in early 1860s. They consisted mostly of progressive-minded landowners and industrialists, the middle class, and some intellectuals of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

controlled

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

. The faction had its origins in the ''Towarzystwo Rolnicze'' (Agricultural Society) started by

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Andrzej Artur Zamoyski Count Andrzej Artur Zamoyski (2 April 1800 – 29 October 1874) was a Polish nobleman, landowner and political and economic activist. Zamoyski organized meetings of landowners (''Klemensowczycy'') at his Klemensów estate in the Polish Congr ...

in 1858. While the Whites supported ending

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

, unlike the "

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

" faction, they advocated for some kind of compensation to be made to the landlords. Also unlike the Reds, the Whites generally opposed the idea of an armed insurrection against Russia, seeing it as doomed to failure. Instead, they tried to use diplomacy and the support of other European powers to win greater autonomy, a separate administration, and a native Polish army for Congress Poland. They also tried to influence the Tsar to engage in the recovery of former Polish lands, which had been taken by partitioning powers

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. However, once the January Uprising broke out, most Whites supported it both politically and militarily.

Notable members

* Edward Jürgens *

Leopold Stanisław Kronenberg Leopold Stanisław Kronenberg (born 24 March 1812 in Warsaw, died 5 April 1878 in Nice) was a Polish banker, investor, and financier, and a leader of the 1863 January uprising against the Russian Empire. Family Kronenberg came from a weal ...

* Karol Majewski * Karol Ruprecht *

References

January Uprising {{Poland-hist-stub